Due to its strategic position, Darwin, with medical and military resources, has and will be involved in further disasters, both natural and man-made. The Bali bombings, Aceh, the attempted assassination of Jose Ramos Horta in Timor Leste are examples of events which have involved the Territory. The plight of so many people after earthquakes, cyclones and the tsunami in places like Samoa , American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Manila , Vietnam and Sumatra may well see Darwin involved in relief and medical roles.
Almost unnoticed on our doorstep is Papua New Guinea ,exhibiting the signs of a potential failed state. There were riots there at the recent Australian Prime Minister’s X111 match against the locals. Many government services are stretched to the limit. The recent crash of a plane on the Kokoda run again revealed that the PNG aviation crash investigation office is run on a shoestring . Medical facilities are sorely lacking, as revealed by the current cholera /swine flu outbreak.
An academic who made the call for Australia to draw up contingency plans to deal with a failed state in PNG , population 5,000,000 , received death threats and was forced to leave the country. He came to Darwin for a time . Disenchanted with the Darwin academic scene, he departed . If his fears for PNG eventuate, the NT could find itself involved in a mammoth task .
On the home front , Chief Minister Paul Henderson recently flew to Canberra to learn about the new national emergency warning system (NEWS) , designed to deliver warnings to landlines and mobile phones. As they say, we live in interesting and tough times for so many.
Almost unnoticed on our doorstep is Papua New Guinea ,exhibiting the signs of a potential failed state. There were riots there at the recent Australian Prime Minister’s X111 match against the locals. Many government services are stretched to the limit. The recent crash of a plane on the Kokoda run again revealed that the PNG aviation crash investigation office is run on a shoestring . Medical facilities are sorely lacking, as revealed by the current cholera /swine flu outbreak.
An academic who made the call for Australia to draw up contingency plans to deal with a failed state in PNG , population 5,000,000 , received death threats and was forced to leave the country. He came to Darwin for a time . Disenchanted with the Darwin academic scene, he departed . If his fears for PNG eventuate, the NT could find itself involved in a mammoth task .
On the home front , Chief Minister Paul Henderson recently flew to Canberra to learn about the new national emergency warning system (NEWS) , designed to deliver warnings to landlines and mobile phones. As they say, we live in interesting and tough times for so many.
